[AU] two worlds, a lot of demons, and a new set of problems

[gavemea_45]

It's still hard to believe it's over; that the yellow-eyed demonic bastard they'd spent their whole lives hunting is finally dead.

Sam figures it'll sink in eventually. Given everything else -- right now he's still pretty numb.

He's also desperately tired, but that doesn't matter. There's something he needs to do, and he can't afford to delay.

He waits until they've settled in for the night, and then waits still longer. Once Dean's been asleep for half an hour, Sam picks up his messenger bag -- already stuffed with books and his computer -- and heads straight for the bar.

He orders black coffee and snags a table with a good view of both doors and the stairs, then pulls out the first of the old texts and starts to search through it.

There's work to do.

Comments

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Always, as far as I know."

Waverly unlocks the truck and pushes the front seat up for one of them to get in the back. "People don't really leave Purgatory all that often."

[gavemea_45]

"Doesn't look like there's all that many of them here, either," Dean notes. "Pretty empty place."

It's only then that Sam realizes why both he and Dean are on such high alert - besides the obvious, of being in a strange world with revenants and other threats about.

The last ghost town they were in was Cold Oak. Even if Purgatory's not a ghost town for real, it sure feels like one.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"It's winter," she points out. "Most people are inside or at work."

But it's true that Purgatory doesn't have the largest population in the world. She circles the truck to get into the driver's seat and turns the engine on with a roar, then glances at the brothers. "Buckle up, please."

[gavemea_45]

"Let me guess." Dean's voice is dry, even as he reaches for the seat belt. "You were a Girl Scout."

Somehow, Sam manages not to laugh.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"In Canada, they're 'Girl Guides,'" Waverly says, primly. "And no, I wasn't."

Mostly because there was no Purgatory chapter, but that's neither here nor there. She sets the truck in drive and pulls away from the curb, heading out of town and onto one of the long, lonely roads that winds through the prairie and towards the woods.

[gavemea_45]

"Pretty remote," Sam observes, watching the landscape as they pass. "I guess that explains why your revenants stick so close. Wynonna mentioned some kind of trailer park?"

He ignores the look Dean shoots him.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"That, and they can't cross the boundary of the Ghost River Triangle."

She makes a turn onto another road, bringing them further outside of town, her jaw tightening. "The trailer park, yeah. Bobo's collected a whole bunch of them out there."

[gavemea_45]

"Bobo?" Sam asks. He can practically see the steam coming from his brother's ears as he fumes, but Dean's keeping it locked down for the moment in favor of gathering information.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Bobo Del Rey."

Her imaginary friend. She can still hear his whispers. I will never hurt my angel.

She presses her lips together, fingers tightening on the steering wheel. "He's kind of become the leader of the revenants. A bunch of them, anyway. He's been having them on work crews, digging for something."

[gavemea_45]

"Question." Dean's teeth are gritted, Sam notices, and resigns himself to the fight they'll have when they get back. "There some reason he's still walkin' around?"

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Because every time he's been close enough to shoot, he's had enough backup that they'd kill Wynonna right after."

She glances at Dean in the mirror, her eyes serious. "No offense, but you don't know the lay of the land here."

[gavemea_45]

"Peacemaker's not like the Colt - our Colt, I mean," Sam explains, quietly. "Instead of having limited ammunition, it's limited in who can use it to kill a demon or revenant. Only one person can... Wyatt Earp's heir. And that's Wynonna."

Dean stares at him. "Only one? What happens if someone kills one of them without it?"

[totalitarstupetballs]

"They don't die."

Her voice is quiet and calm, but there's a thread of strain beneath it. "They can get hurt, but only Peacemaker puts them down. And only the heir can use Peacemaker."

[gavemea_45]

"Basically, this curse is a real piece of work," Sam murmurs. "The good news is that there's some kind of barrier around the whole Ghost River Triangle area. Doesn't look like anything else can get in. At all."

Dean lets out an explosive breath. "At least there's that. Jesus."

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Nothing gets in, and nothing gets out," Waverly confirms. "Revenants that go outside the boundary experience hell on earth."

Her voice is quiet, almost sympathetic. "It's awful."

[gavemea_45]

Revenants here sound a lot more intentionally violent than some of the ones they've run across - Molly, for one - but from the way Waverly reacts, it's probably not an easy ending to watch.

"I guess they don't try that much."

[totalitarstupetballs]

She shakes her head. "I know Bobo had one of them dragged across the line, as punishment," she tells them.

"He was still alive after weeks, but... that's all you could say for it."

[gavemea_45]

Dean lets out a low whistle. Sam tries very hard not to imagine if hell on earth is literal or not here, and tries even harder not to think of Dean experiencing it.

He won't. They'll find a way. Somehow.

"How many of the seventy-seven are left?"

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Sixty-eight," Waverly says. In the distance, a low building comes into view. "Wynonna's killed nine so far."

[gavemea_45]

"So far being the important part there," Sam says, as bracing and supportive as he can. He scans the horizon ahead and eyes the building. "Is that your place?"

[totalitarstupetballs]

"It's the Blacksmith's."

She pulls the truck to a halt a fair distance from the building, which looks like a house and shop pushed together, the yard filled with metal detritus. There's a no trespassing sign that she chooses to ignore, unbuckling herself and reaching for the skull and wine. "Let's go see what she has to say."

[gavemea_45]

"You weren't kidding about her being a loner," Dean observes. Sam slides out and shuts the passenger side door, then joins him in walking around to Waverly's side.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Nope."

She clutches the bottle in one hand and the box in the other and starts crunching across the snow, headed toward the barn that seems to function as a workshop. As she comes nearer, the door slides open, and a dark-haired woman with an exasperated expression steps out. "You did see the "No Tresspassing" sign, didn't you?" she calls, annoyed.

"Uh – " Waverly swallows and finds her courage. "I was wondering... I need to talk with you."

The Blacksmith looks her over. "And you think an eight dollar bottle of pinot's going to make me listen?"

[gavemea_45]

"Told you we should have brought whiskey," Dean mutters. Sam resists the urge to elbow him and steps forward to Waverly's side.

"Not 'make,'" he says, with a warm, easy smile. "More as a friendly gesture."

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Uh-huh." The Blacksmith glances over Sam and Dean, sizing them up. Although she's a woman alone out here by the woods with no company but the lonely prairie, she doesn't seem afraid or worried, only annoyed. "I know she's an Earp. Second one I've seen today."

With a tip of her head toward Waverly. "Who are you?"